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Council asks for Iowa City–specific voucher and public housing data as waiting lists, conversions discussed
Summary
Councilors asked staff for jurisdictional breakdowns of Johnson County housing choice voucher waiting lists and discussed public housing wait-list status and plans to convert units to vouchers.
Councilors at the Feb. 4 work session pressed staff for Iowa City–specific data on the regional housing choice voucher waiting list, asked when HUD’s point-in-time unsheltered count would be available locally and sought clarity about a planned public-housing conversion to Section 8 vouchers.
Councilor asked whether the waiting list total in the packet referred to Johnson, Washington and Iowa counties together. “When we report the waiting list numbers, it's for a whole jurisdiction. So Johnson County, Washington County, and Iowa County. Now the majority are Johnson County,” Tracy Heishi of Neighborhood Development Services said. Heishi said staff could run a jurisdictional split and provide Iowa City counts at a later time.
Councilors also asked whether the number of voucher recipients still waiting for housing has grown since the state lifted policies requiring landlords to accept vouchers; staff said a landlord acceptance “freeze” had reduced voucher applications and that landlords not accepting vouchers contributes to people remaining on waiting lists.
On public housing, Heishi said the public housing wait list is closed to new applicants but the program remains active and residents are moved off the list as units turn over. Staff said when public housing is converted to vouchers the city would receive the equivalent number of vouchers (for example, converting 86 public housing units would generate 86 additional vouchers) and that tenants would generally have to live in the unit for a period before porting a voucher elsewhere depending on the conversion method.
Councilors asked when the HUD point-in-time unsheltered count would be available; staff said HUD reporting cycle takes several months and that local counts completed in January could be provided to council once compiled.
No formal decisions were made; staff said they would provide the requested Iowa City–specific voucher-waitlist split and local point-in-time counts when the data are compiled.
